The MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission, led by Japan’s space agency JAXA, lifted off at 04:41 Japan time on 20 October aboard an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center, the European Space Agency has reported.
The spacecraft aims to be the first to orbit Phobos, the first to collect samples from its surface and the first to return to Earth from the Mars system. It will study both of Mars’s moons, Phobos and Deimos.
Under JAXA’s plan, the probe will reach Mars in 2027, make two soft landings on Phobos to collect about 10 grams of material and return to Earth, with the capsule to be recovered in Australia in 2031.
The mission involves NASA, France’s CNES, Germany’s DLR and ESA, which provided the deep-space communication equipment and ground station support.
